An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 17 (The Bundeswehr has 15 land commands spread across 15 fed- eral states, with 31 regional commands.) Col Baumgartner, who has previously served as ISAF Press & Information Officer (PIO), Bundeswehr PIO, and Bundeswehr magazine editor, told us about his unit's responsibilities in implement- ing territorial tasks and other joint tasks across the country. He was followed by Col Anderer Benutier (Bundeswehr Territorial Command, Ops Division), who spoke to us about the current refugee crisis, telling us that a directive for refugee relief operations, issued by the minister for defence in August, gave the Bundeswehr the responsi- bility of co-ordinating the national response to the crisis. He told us that the Bundeswehr had received 326 requests for support, and that 16 facilities had been fully or partially handed over to the Federal Facility Management Agency. Forty-two dual-use Bundeswehr buildings have been made available to house refugees and 4,000 troops are involved in a 'helping hands' assignment, with Medical Corps personnel and equipment providing assistance in 14 locations countrywide. Two main staging areas in Bavaria, with a capacity for 5,000 refugees each, to look after reception, enrolment and to provide a buffer function, are controlled by the Red Cross and supported by the Bundeswehr. Col Benutier said: "This is the way to go, and another staging area near Bremen will be established shortly and will involve the transfer of authority to the Federal Agency for Migration, which will plan for conservation and sustain- ability for 2016 and beyond." Later that evening we went downtown to visit Zentralredak- tion building, which houses the Bundeswehr Public Relations and Information offices, along with other civilian press offices and publications. PR Branch has a staff of 121 (60% civilian) working on magazines, newspapers, youTube, their website, and the Bundeswehr radio station, which Col Kuhn told us "operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with soldiers broad- casting for soldiers." Their Facebook account has 336,074 'likes', and their audiovisual unit produces 400 videos a year. The next day, Brig Gen Peter-Georg Stütz greeted us at Julius Leber Bks where we were briefed on Joint Operations Command. Lt Col Boris Schnelle (Ops Comd PIO Div) told us: "It is our job as PIOs to give as much information as possible to the public, within the parameters of the Constitution, so that they are informed about Germany's foreign policy and defence matters." Joint Ops Comd has three pillars: Conventional Ops Abroad, Special Forces Ops Abroad and Crisis Missions Abroad (involv- ing German citizens). This is where national mission planning takes place, along with NATO liaison officers. There are currently 3,200 German soldiers serving over- seas with: EUTM Mali; EU NAVFOR (combating piracy around Somalia); and AFTUR (on Turkey's border with Syria and Iran). There is also a fast attack craft operating with UNIFIL that is training the Lebanese navy in border control and radar, and a frigate operating with EU NAVFOR, now called 'Sofia', in the Mediterranean. However, their largest troop commitment is with KFOR, where 680 German troops are stationed in Kosovo, providing a Role 3 medical facility, an infantry company and a QRF battalion. There is also a reserve battle group of 700 on call at home if required. Later that day we attended the EMPA Congress, where we received briefings on the Association from the EMPA's presi- dent, treasurer, and auditor. We were also briefed on next year's congress in Norway, which will contain briefings on Nor- way's defence policy and industry. (Norway is unique in that it has conscription for both males and females.) These were followed by the EMPA awards, including 'Best Photo', which went to a picture of a Latvian combat camera team in action, by Raimundas Kaunietis (Lithuania), published in Tēvijas Sargs (Lithuania). The award for best article went to 'Christmas Truce – Live and Let Live', by Laszlo Feith, which was published in Magyar Honvéd (Hungary). The final business was the election of a new board to man- age EMPA for the next four-year term; with the first female president, Ms Līga Lakuča (Latvia), saying farewell after a very successful term for her and her board. Elected to the new board were: President Brig Gen Wolf- gang Peischel (Austria), Secretary General Karl-Heinz Leitner (Austria), 1st Vice President Regula Ferrari (Switzerland), 2nd Vice President Mikko Juho Illko (Finland), and Andreas Hess (Switzerland), as Treasurer. Overall it was a very successful congress and while An Co- santóir didn't win any awards it was good to be listed along- side some great military publications. It is also good to play our part in the EMPA, which strives to enhance and support military magazines throughout Europe. EMPA congress members in the Reichstag building with host Wilfried Lorenz. Photo courtesy of Bundestag Press Office. Lt Col Boris Schnelle

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